Shadowbox Live has been doing annual
Holiday Hoopla shows for 22 years now, and the latest edition reveals that they’ve gotten
the show’s formula down to a science without resting on their laurels.

That formula is a winning combination of sweetness, Christmas tradition and cheerful poking fun
at some of the excesses of the winter holidays and those who celebrate them — as well as those who
don’t.

This year’s skits, mostly bouncy and well-trimmed, branch off in new directions, and range from
surprisingly touching to unsurprisingly raucous. In one, a young man (JT Walker III) and woman (Amy
Lay), whose relationship has recently broken up, try to decide what to text each other on Christmas
Eve, with results both funny and tender.

In a more-boisterous sketch, an aggravated Casey Kasem (Jimmy Mak) attempts an old-school rock
Christmas, which gives several Shadowbox regulars a chance to shine, including Noelle Grandison as
a feisty Aretha Franklin, Jamie Barrow as an eager Mick Jagger and Matthew Hahn as a hilariously
warped version of Keith Richards.

Other skits ask what would happen if the National Security Agency agreed to help folks with
their Christmas lists, and if the usual story parents tell their children about Santa were reversed
in some crucial ways.

Of course, some characters are too irresistible not to make a reappearance: Puck (David
Whitehouse) and Misty (Lay), the delightfully deluded hip-hop wannabe couple, show up in a sketch
that gets in digs at some well-known, and well-off, central Ohio communities.

The musical numbers lean toward solid takes on traditional Christmas songs, given enough of a
twist to keep them fresh. Walker’s lead on
Soul Cake is energetically vibrant without diluting the song’s original power, and Lay’s
version of
O Come Emmanuel is quietly powerful.

A free-spirited choral version of
Children Go Where I Send Thee showcases nine longtime members of the troupe, who seem to
be having infectious fun together while harmonizing effortlessly.

Holiday Hoopla wouldn’t be complete without a visit from the Santa Babies, that trio of
enthusiastic if choreographically challenged veterans of the musical stage, whose charm lies as
much in their familiarity as in their goofy and innuendo-laden comedy. Dixie (Julie Klein) still
has tongue firmly in cheek as the seductive alleged leader of the group, Dorothy (Stephanie Shull)
is still gamely trying to out-run her hot flashes, and Dolly (Stacie Boord), still prancing around
the stage at double speed and fanning herself with her skirt at the slightest provocation, has the
innocent vitality of someone, well, at least 22 years younger.

The troupe keeps its language in check for the holiday show, and apart from some comical sexual
references, the show is family-appropriate. Its good-natured spirit makes the last two months of
the year that much brighter.